Houston Dynamo: Loading roster for CCL critical

The Houston Dynamo will be competing on many fronts next season, with the CONCACAF Champions League starting in February. Loading their roster this offseason, then, has been a critical process.

Soccer that counts will come early for Houston Dynamo supporters. Houston’s March through CONCACAF Champions League starts February 19.

They play the first leg of the match in Guatemala. For the second leg of that match, CD Guastatoya travels to meet Houston Dynamo at home on February 26. Expect the Dynamo to progress through the 16-team field, within reach of the championship.

Houston recently finished loading the roster for this early start to the season. Just this month, they re-signed captain DaMarcus Beasley for 2019. This is his 20th professional season.

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Beasley’s speed has slightly reduced since his 1999 Under-17 World Cup debut. His agility and mind, however, couldn’t work better. Dynamo head coach Wilmer Cabrera prizes those qualities in all his players. That’s what he can use to attack and disrupt opponents, breaking through their midfield walls.

But while Beasley’s retention is important, it is Houston’s bolstering of their squad in the offseason through trades and transfers that has been most significant in their preparation for the CCL. Four more new players strengthen the Dynamo roster through trade, draft and transfer:

• M Marlon Hairston
• M Tommy McNamara
• D Adjaž Struna
• M Matías Vera

Marlon Hairston comes to the Houston Dynamo in a trade with the Colorado Rapids. The team gave up $175,000 in General Allocation Money for 2019-20 to make the move.

At age 24, Hairston has already played nearly 100 MLS games. He has experience in both MLS and Champions League. As soon as Cabrera works him solidly into the lineup, he will block out opponents in the midfield while working lanes open for Dynamo attackers. That goes for both Champions League and MLS.

Tommy McNamara also joins the midfield corps. He got Cabrera’s attention in 2014. That’s when, as Chivas USA head coach, Cabrera selected him in the MLS SuperDraft. Since then, McNamara played in three New York City FC seasons with the team finishing top-three in the MLS Eastern Conference.

He enters the Dynamo roster through the second stage of the MLS Re-entry Draft in December. Cabrera knows what to expect and McNamara knows what he wants, both in Champions League and MLS competitions.

The only new defender of the four is Adjaž Struna. He comes on a full transfer from US Città de Palermo in the Italian Serie B League. Cabrera confirmed Struna has what Houston Dynamo looked for in a center-back. That scouting report comes based on Struna’s performance, not only in Europe, but also on the Slovenian National Team.

More midfield depth comes from Matías Vera on a full transfer from San Lorenzo de Amalgro in the Argentine Primera División, although he played on loan in 2018 in the Chilean Primera División. There, Vera made 25 league appearances. Plus he made two appearances in Copa Chile.

He specializes as a defensive midfielder, not as much a scorer. Houston Dynamo say that’s how they tracked him looking through his over-100 pro appearances. And that’s what they want.
Cabrera expects not only for Vera to fill a role, but help the team improve.

Houston Dynamo will spend late February moving through talented competition in CONCACAF Champions League. Then when MLS starts for real, they’ll have about a month of overlap. That means a lot of games. It is a good job, then, that the squad has been well and truly bolstered.